SK's name and blurbs have been used to sell a lot of books by other authors over the years. His blurb for volume one of Clive Barker's Books of Blood in the mid-80s--"I have seen the future of horror . . . and it is named Clive Barker"--must be one of the most well-known blurbs in all of modern publishing.

What was the first book to feature a blurb by Stephen King? I'd like to know the first SK blurb on a front cover, specifically, but if that instance was preceded by an SK blurb on the rear cover or on one of the inside pages, I'd like to know that, too.

I'll start the speculation by offering an early example: the first paperback edition of John Farris's horror novel All Heads Turn When the Hunt Goes By from Popular Library, 1977. SK's blurb is at the top of the front cover: "'America's premier novelist of terror'--Stephen King, author of Carrie and The Shining." I'm not sure when exactly this paperback was published. The copyright date of 1977 is the only date provided on the copyright page, with no reference to a month, and 1977 is the same copyright and publication date for the hardcover. The paperback may have been published in 1978. Note that the hardcover does NOT feature SK's blurb (despite including blurbs from other authors and publications on the rear cover).

I’ve only blurbed three or four movies in my time, but I’ve lent my name to perhaps a hundred books. The first one, I’ll admit, wasn’t very good (in fact, it was pretty terrible), but that was over 30 years ago and I was flattered out of my socks just to be asked. Since then, I’ve done it only for books I honestly loved, and for a very simple reason: Early on, nobody blurbed any of mine. Carrie, ‘Salem’s Lot, and The Shining were published before the art of blurbing had been perfected. In the old days, children, the back cover of novels was usually reserved for a black-and-white photograph of the author (often holding a cigarette and trying to look cosmopolitan). Nowadays, the back cover tends to be Blurb City.

Hmm. I went to the article. It was posted March 20, 2008. SK's phrase "over 30 years ago" would put that unnamed first blurb at around 1978 or earlier, then. SK also suggests--he does not state it explicitly--that he did not blurb until after the publication of The Shining.

Both points keep the Farris/All Heads blurb in the running for first SK blurb.

Any other interviews with more detailed information? Anyone see any other SK blurbs on mid- to late-70s books from your collections? Any SK bibliographies include his blurb checklist? (If not, what a task for completists.)